Birds With Broken Wings is a year old today 🔥🔥😩😩 thank you all so much for genuinely liking this story and for going out of your way to promote the book and make me smile. This update is for you all ❤️❤️

And also, this update is specially for Shewa and Tolani because this is the prelude to all the tensions you guys have always wanted to release since 2020 😂❤️

And I'm not joking this time around, this chapter is really X-rated, please don't read if you're not up to 30 years of age 🙏🏾😭😂

And disclaimer alert, my alter ego wrote the major parts of this chapter. Masha Allah sister like me, write what happened in this chapter? Ahusubillahi! Alhaji must not hear of it.

Let's Go!!!!

DAVID

Should I send some nudes?

I blanched, a fit of coughs erupting from my mouth as I stared at the WhatsApp message. I dropped my phone on the bed as if it was a volcano waiting to erupt as the images of what the so-called nudes could be started popping up in my brain.

Jesus Christ! What have I gotten myself into?

I dared a look at my screen to see that she was already typing again and almost immediately, another message came in.

It's a limited-time offer so if you don't reply within the next 30 minutes, just know that otilo oo.

Laughter blossomed in my chest at her use of street language but it was only for a short while before the implication of her messages dawned on me and I found myself massaging my neck as I stared at the messages.

Nudes? She wanted to send nudes?

I subconsciously took my lower lip in between my teeth as more and more images popped into brain, sending a wave of erotic thrill through me.

And lead us not into temptations...

It's gone, your 30 seconds have passed.

I gulped, feeling the loss in my guts but again, Dunni was probably not going to send anything, for all I knew, she could send a picture of one of her bags or something.

She started typing again.

On second thought, I'm going to send just one, it's your lucky day.

I gulped involuntarily and immediately a media set to view only once came in, drying my mouth and cutting off my airflow. My fingers hovered over the media for a while and I mentally prepared myself for whatever it was that she sent. Knowing Dunni, it was probably nothing, maybe a pair of shoes or a bag or something but then again, she had been teasing me endlessly since we got back together, picking up my video calls dressed in flimsy clothes, making sure her boobs were totally in my line of vision.

And now, she was offering to send nudes out of the blues.

I guessed her major mission in life was to frustrate me and tether me toward the edge of insanity.

And guess what? It was working as hell.

I was already this close to losing my goddamned mind and now, she was in my dm again with the startling offer of sending nudes.

Oh wait, she already sent one.

My finger trailed over it absentmindedly and before I knew it, I was double-clicking on the media, downloading and opening it at once.

That had to be my greatest undoing so far.

P.S: THE PICTURE SHE SENT WILL BE FLAGGED DOWN AS INAPPROPRIATE BY WATTPAD SO I'LL SEND IT TO MY WHATSAPP GROUP!

I stared at the picture, my eyes widening and my tongue swiping over my lower lip as I took in the intricate details of the picture which meant I was taking in the intricate details of her body which meant I was imagining... fuck.

I inhaled and exhaled to control my now ragged breathing, my eyes involuntarily swiping over the seduction that was the picture, all sorts of thoughts and images pooling in my mind.

Arched backs, intertwined bodies, tousled hair on pillows, needy moans, breathy whimpers, dilated pupils, fingers, tongues, and fuck...

Jesus Christ!

I slammed a pillow over my trunk.

I should stop looking, stop looking, stop looking but I couldn't help it, couldn't help my eyes zeroing in on specific parts in the picture, torturing myself and aggravating what was already going on in my body.

Nah, Dunni was really going to be the death of me.

A WhatsApp notification flashed at the top of my screen and I reluctantly almost painfully clicked on the back icon.

I know you must still be fawning over the picture but are you not going to tell me that I look pretty😔

Pretty? To describe a picture that's as sinfully hot as that? Nah, that'd be the understatement of the century.

You didn't mention that you had plans of sending me to an early grave with the picture.

She started typing almost immediately confirming that she must have had our chat opened and has been waiting for my reply. That made my heart swoon and made me feel lightheaded.

😂☺️ but at least, you'll die a happy man.

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips and I started to type a reply to her when something gigantic hit me square in the face, sending my head back with a force so alarming I developed an instant brain-splitting migraine.

"What the..." I screamed at the nigga that threw the pillow at me but he remained unfazed, if anything, he looked like he was just seconds away from throttling me.

"What happened to you?" I asked him, darting a glance toward my phone screen.

He cocked a brow and he followed my eyes to my phone.

"Did you even hear anything from what I've been saying?"

Uhhh? I sat more upright. He was saying something? "You were saying something?"

He kissed his teeth briefly before turning to zip up a bag I hadn't even noticed was on his bed.

"I should have known that you were incapable of hearing other things since you were chatting with her."

"I wasn't chatting with her, I was just reading through some random things," I defended-lied and he threw a glare my way.

"Hmmm, you were reading through some random things and you had that look on your face."

"What look?" I feigned ignorance.

"I'll get you a picture next time so you'll see how besotted you look while chatting with her."

"I don't look besotted..." another pillow landed on my face and it cut off whatever I wanted to say.

"I have to go home," he announced and he flung his bag over his shoulder, "I should be back in a day or two."

I frowned, wondering where the suddenness of going home was coming from and he was already dressed up and ready to go.

"Home? Why? Today is Sunday."

"Ohhh ohhh," he feigned amusement by tapping a finger to his chin and looking completely taken aback, "I never knew you were still capable of knowing the days of the week now that Dunni is back in the picture."

"Shut up," I threw his pillow back at him but he dodged it effortlessly.

"But seriously, why are you going home?" I probed even though I knew when he goes home like this out of the blue, it was just for one thing, "don't you have a mock trial on Tuesday?"

"I should be back on Tuesday morning," he replied as he started making his way towards the door, "Pam is the only one at home so I have to go and stay with her."

"Ohhh, alright then, take care."

His hand stilled on the door knob and he turned back to look at me, a wary look in his eyes, "why do you sound so happy that I'm leaving?"

I wiped the smile off my face, plastered a very confused frown on it instead, "happy? How? You know I don't even like sleeping alone."

He didn't say anything, just kept staring at me pointedly before he finally turned the knob.

"You're not even going to see me off?"

I quickly stand to my feet, "of course, I was going to see you off."

He held out a hand to stop me, "don't stress yourself," he tilted his head towards my phone, just attend to your phone, it has been buzzing with notifications since eternity."

Ohhh. I darted another glance toward my phone to see what looked like 20 new messages from Dunni.

"Don't worry, I'll get back to it later."

He shook his head pitifully, "she'll kill you, just attend to her," he slammed the door shut and I picked up my phone immediately.

The door opened again and my annoying best friend stuck his head in, "I'll be gone for only two nights at most, David and honestly, I don't want to be a godfather yet."

"Shut up," I threw another pillow at him but he shut the door just in time for the pillow to hit the door and the sound of his boisterous laughter and retreating footsteps echoed through the walls.

Idiot.

My phone vibrated with yet another message from Dunni.

So you're really ignoring me? How come I've been chatting with myself for the past 10 minutes?

I don't blame you though, I blame myself.

Dave, are you really not going to reply to my messages?

Wow! It's not even up to ten days and you're already tired of me? 😔🥲

And then, she had to punctuate all messages with thousand of Aki's stickers showing varying levels of despair and sadness.

I chuckled to myself and I couldn't help but wonder how only one person could be this dramatic, too dramatic even.

I called her on a video call and she picked up even before the call went through.

Her face came up on my screen and like always, I actually lost my ability to think. One would think by now, I was supposed to have gotten used to her face and I wouldn't get surprised or anything but heck, guess whose heart just picked race and whose mouth suddenly went dry?

Me!

David in capital letters.

"What were you doing?" she fired immediately her face came on.

"I was..." I cleared my throat, forced my eyes off her bottom lip that had now disappeared in between her teeth, "Wale distracted me."

"Why would you allow him to distract you when you were chatting with me?" she queried further and I groaned.

Inwardly.

"He was talking to me and I couldn't just ignore him." After I already ignored him for more than 20 minutes.

"But you could ignore me, abi?"

"It wasn't intenti..." I trailed off at her glare and I plastered a somber look on my face, "I'm sorry."

I got no reply, just dramatic batting of eyes and a series of pouting.

"I won't do that again."

She looked like she wasn't going to say anything but I could notice the faintest of smile tugging at the corner of her lips and before I knew it, she was a laughing mess.

"You should have heard yourself," she managed in between laughter while I couldn't stop myself from focusing on the movement of her mouth, on how her tongue briefly darted out to moisten her lower lip, "you sounded so much like a pupil apologizing to the headmaster."

"Well, what can I say? That's pretty much what our relationship is."

"As if," she retorted before changing her position on the bed. She was wearing a crop top and I got a brief glimpse of her bare stomach before the camera panned on her face again.

Brief glance but it was enough to send my thoughts spiraling.

"So, that picture, uhm?"

"Why?" she asked, feigning innocence and looking like Princess would if she was caught with her hand in a cookie jar, "you don't like it?"

"I don't..." I trailed off and when I spoke again, my voice dropped an octave, "what were you thinking sending that picture?"

"What do you mean?" her feigned innocent look became more prominent, "I wasn't thinking anything."

"You know what you were thinking."

"Okay, since you're so sure that I was thinking something," her voice lowered and there was that not-so-subtle change in her eyes, "why don't you tell me what I was thinking then?"

Wow! My mouth dried even more. We were really doing this."

Through the camera, I saw what looked like a teddy bear land on Dunni's head and she yelped before turning toward the direction where the teddy came from.

"Taniaaaa," Dunni whined, still looking in the direction.

"At least, give me a heads up before guys start fornicating on phone," came the loud and deafness-inducing voice that belonged to her roommate, "do you want to ruin my life? I can hear everything you guys are saying and Ewww."

Who's this one?

"Shut up Tania, it's not even that bad."

"Yenyenyen," came the voice again, "be fornicating there and don't go for dance rehearsals."

Dunni muttered something I couldn't hear before she turned back to me again.

"Sorry for the distraction, my roommate is a handful."

That's too obvious.

"I have to go now though," she muttered, "I have dance rehearsals."

"Ohhh," a strange sense of childish loss overwhelmed me and it almost made me chuckle at how ridiculous that was, "so are we going to see tonight?"

"I doubt that, my rehearsals are going to run late."

Again, I felt another sense of overwhelming childish loss and I felt that at this rate, I was going to fall sick from not seeing her physically.

Talk about being completely and irrationally gone.

"Don't you have training today? It's Sunday and..."

It's Sunday and it's almost 5 pm and training had completely eluded my mind.

"Yeah, of... Of course, I do, I'll just get ready now."

"Alright boo, talk to you later, love you."

A smug smile tugged at my lips, "of course you do."

The glare she shot me wiped the smile off with an alarming speed, "you're not going to say it back."

"Yeah... I mean... I mean no, of course, I love you more."

"Better," she muttered and a coy, almost shy smile tugged at the corner of her lips which made me chuckle because nah, I thought I wouldn't get surprised by Dunni again but how could I not get surprised when she was here, smiling shyly at me just because I told her that I love her.

"I'd have asked you not to miss me too much but I know that's impossible."

"Completely impossible, I'm missing you already."

"Awwww," the shy smile deepened into a blush, "you say the sweetest things."

"I guess I have to do everything to make you smile."

"Ewwww," Dunni's roommate's voice came again, "I'm going to get diabetes by just listening to you both."

Dunni threw the teddy back at her, "shut up Tania."

"Yenyenyen."

"So, goodbye boo, talk to you later."

"Yeah, bye-bye."

The screen went blank but I couldn't stop staring at my screen, wondering what high could possibly be higher than the Dunni's effect.

A couple of minutes later, I was seated on the field, watching some of my new and young teammates running towards the finish line with coach waiting for them, timer in hand.

Chike was leading and I felt my head swell with pride as I watched him race, watched him merge with the wind as he finally crossed the finish line.

Bravo! I internally screamed that's my boy.

"How're you on the track team if you can't even do twenty push-ups in a go?" Seyi's boisterous voice made my head turn from where Coach was rubbing Chike's head while addressing the boys to the spot where Seyi was gathered with the rest of the teammates.

I felt that familiar, yet alien feeling of loneliness, of being an outcast despite being the star of the team.

They were having fun, like always.

They were playing a game of push-ups and a guy was on the floor and raising his whole body with his hands that were palm down on the floor while the other boys were busy counting the number of times he had successfully done a push-up.

Only Seyi wasn't counting, he just sat there, in the middle of the group, legs stretched and hands palm down on a spot behind him to support his posture. He had an almost satisfied grin on his face as he stared at the unfolding scene in front of him.

"29

30

31

32..."

Series of groans and grunts from the boy doing the push-up and an increased slowness to the pace he had been going with before.

"35

36

37..."

More groans and grunts from the boy before he finally collapsed to the ground with a very heavy sigh. I felt a smile touch my lips at the scene at the same time the guys burst into laughter but Seyi's laughter rang the loudest and I couldn't stop watching him as he threw his head back as if he was completely amused by the scene before him.

I felt another pang in my chest as I stared at them, at the laughter, at the boisterous energies oozing from them as they laughed with no care in the world and that insane slapping of backs all in the name of laughing.

I've never been a part of that.

Not that energy, not that laughter, not the jokes, not the games, not the fun poking, not anything that has to do with the team.

Funny how I was supposed to be the star of the team but Seyi was the one with the cracking energy, he was the one who the boys flocked to, the ones they held in high esteem, the one that seek out, the one they respected the most, the one they loved...

The one they wanted to be the star of the team.

"So you guys are telling me that no one can do a hundred push-ups in a go?"

"Of course, I can," a short boy whose name I couldn't remember was quick to reply and I instantly had a whiplash as I looked around the various faces in the group.

I couldn't remember any of their names.

No, I didn't know any of their names.

They were my teammates, most of them have been my teammates for 3 years now and the only thing I knew about them was their faces, their names were simply non-existent in my brain.

And thinking about it, and thinking hard about it now, I didn't know more than 4 guys by name out of more than 25 teammates.

"I was just waiting to call them bluffs before showing y'all who the real king of push-ups is," he continued and he started to dramatically roll the sleeves of the sweatshirt he had on.

"I swear guy, if you don't do at least 50, I'll deck your head so bad you'll forget your name."

"Come on," the short boy bragged as he got into position, "what do you take me for? I do a hundred every morning."

"Sha know you're getting decked if you don't do 50," another boy flipped him as he started to do the push-up.

He started exaggeratedly with a smug, self-assured smile that screamed I've got this, I'm not going to flop at this as he raised his body with his two palms propped on the ground with the ease of someone picking up a new baby and the guys hollered at him.

I felt my lips stretch into a smile.

"6

7

8"

The boy continued pushing himself up without looking like he was breaking a sweat and he still looked so self-assured, so certain that he has got this.

"13

14."

The boy removed his left hand from the floor and casually positioned it on his back so he was now doing the push-ups with just one hand.

The team cheered him even louder and the smug smile deepened.

"Looks like someone is really serious about this 100 push-ups thing."

"He barely just got to fifteen bro, my guy is still going to flop."

"Don't be so suuu... sure," the guy doing the push-ups attempted to retort but his voice came out like a pained groan and I could see the muscles on his right hand straining so badly I was afraid of how much he must be hurting.

All in the name of impressing the boys.

"17

18..."

He groaned out loud this time around and he attempted to start using his other hand again but the boys were quick to shout at him and one even held the hand so it was immobile.

"But it's a push-up, I'm allowed to use my two hands."

"Not after you decided to flaunt by using just one hand."

"Urggghhh," sweat pooled at and dropped from his forehead, and the veins in his right hand became more pronounced, tauter, more...

"20."

My guy collapsed onto the floor and the group burst into laughter so loud, so free, and so contagious that I didn't know when a cackle escaped from my throat. I swallowed it back immediately but I was sure the laughter didn't leave my lips.

Or eyes.

"This guy na bastard, I swear."

"I go do a hundred, a hundred push-ups no be big deal for me," another guy mimicked the other guy that was now groaning and panting heavily on the ground, "but take a look at yourself, you could barely even do 20."

"That's... That's because," he croaked out in between gasps, "that's because I was using only one hand, if I was using the phone, there's... there's no way I wouldn't have gotten to a hundred..."

"Shut up man, did anyone ask you to use just one hand?"

"Don't mind him," Seyi finally contributed as he hit the back of the guy's head playfully, "this guy na job man."

"Capt..."

Seyi interrupted him with another slap on his head and he trailed off quickly.

"So none of you guys can even do 50 push-ups in a go? And you're on my team? How come?"

The casual mention of my team made me feel a surging wave of disgust so strong I felt the bitterness in my mouth.

It wasn't supposed to be his team. It wasn't even something that shouldn't graze his fingers not to talk of him holding it equally in his hands but when we were in 200l and the former captain had passed out and Coach Kim had immediately appointed me as the new captain but that had turned out to be a total disaster. The boys didn't even like me enough to hear me speak so heeding my instructions or treating me like a leader was out of the question.

So Coach had no option but to ask them to nominate someone else so there will be some sort of voting to determine the next real captain.

They unanimously nominated Seyi and they unanimously voted for him too.

So it was his team really.

"I already did a hundred this morning," another boy replied to his question, "I can't do a hundred again until it's nightfall."

"Oro Oshi."

"Nah, this is a disaster mehn," Seyi's voice drowned out the rest of the voices, "you've been in my team all these while and no one can do something as simple as a hundred push-ups in a go? Nah, I need to do something, I should probably change our workout routines into something more tedious so y'all will..."

"Aaahh."

"Nooo."

"Cap, you can't do that."

"Change it into something more tedious? Then we won't even have any energy left to run."

"No, idiot," Seyi slapped the back of the head of the guy that just spoke, "it'll boost your metabolism so you'll have more speed range."

"Anyhow, I sha don't want."

"You'll tell that to coach tomorrow."

"Capppp."

"So no one actually pulled off 50 push-ups in a go?"Seyi added out of nowhere again, "that's a shame on the team."

"Why don't you show us then?" A calm voice replied to him out of nowhere. The voice sounded chill, so collected and somehow odd, just like the person that owned it.

Lawal Akintosho.

He was one of the very few track boys that I knew by name and he was one of the track boys that cared enough to answer or greet me with grunts or monosyllables.

"We've accepted that we all can't do it, why don't you show us, captain?"

"Eeehhh, I'll be running in the next two minutes or so, I wouldn't want to use up my..."

"Cap..."

"No way."

"I'm not... I'll do it when I'm done running, I don't want captain threatening to have my head."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that," another guy replied and he started to rub Seyi's hair playfully and almost sensually.

Seyi shot him a glare and he shrugged his hands away before he could even start properly.

"Yeah sure," that was another guy, "Coach has started warming up to you these past weeks, we wouldn't want to ruin that."

"I don't think he's warming up to me, he's just warming up to the fact that I'm getting faster by the day and that's the only thing that old man cares about. It doesn't matter whether you're dying or going through the most severe mental breakdown, as long as you show up and you shed off more of your seconds, that's all he cares about."

"That's not even a new thing. Sometimes, I wonder if he's actually deserving of being a coach."

"But he wants the best for us."

"Nah," Seyi replied again, "he doesn't want the best for us, if he didn't, he wouldn't continue pushing us to the extreme without any care about our mental or even physical well-being.-

He only cares about himself, about being the best coach in the country, and about being the one that coached the fastest runners in the country," he flipped his head towards the finish line where Coach was still addressing the boys, a torn look in his eyes and when he spoke again, his voice sounded somber and pained?

"You could literally be dying inside and he wouldn't give a damn as long as you show up and you run fast."

"True that but you're already in his good book," Lawal spoke again, "you've gotten so fast now, you're almost as fast as David."

Bullocks.

Seyi chuckled slightly but he didn't even as much as spare a glance in my direction.

"But how did you do it though?" Lawal probed further, "you just went from C to M in mere weeks."

A proud smile graced Seyi's lips and he let out a short chuckle and he changed his position on the grass so his knees were drawn to his chin, "Well, I'm not exactly sure where this newfound energy is coming from but I'm starting to exercise more and more and subsequently, my speed range is increasing."

My eyes rolled to the back of my head.

"God when!" A teammate hollered, "that was how you spent 30 minutes lifting weights yesterday morning, I can't even spend 5 without my hands wanting to fall off."

"You, you no get sense on a normal day," another teammate jabbed and they all burst into laughter.

"What does having sense have to do with physical abilities?"

"Plenty of things, you can't know until you have sense."

"Oro oshi."

"Cap, how far the preparation for the preliminaries na? That's just in a week."

The mere question, mere mention of the preliminaries was enough to make something in my throat thicken into a lump. It was a week, just a mere 7 days into the beginning of that one thing I've always looked to since I started running and I wasn't even sure how I was feeling.

I wasn't even sure if I was prepared or ready or anything.

I've been too distracted lately and even though it had inadvertently made me cut down on working out and training, it didn't feel all that bad because it was almost a welcomed distraction.

But if there was one thing I was sure I was feeling, it was worry and maybe fear because Seyi was getting faster.

Because he wouldn't stop getting faster.

"But why the fuss about CSA's and UI's preliminaries though?" The question caught my attention and made me flip my head back to them, "that's just a joint internal preliminary between two universities, other universities too will do their preliminaries and the winners will compete in Abuja for the main preliminaries so why are these media and public attention on who will emerge the winner from our own preliminaries?"

"Aigooo," Seyi complained as he playfully hit a piece of clothing on the guy's head, "we should really be considering IQs before letting you guys into the team."

"Cap, I'm smart, I'm the scholar of my department."

"Sure," another guy replied to him in an overly exaggerated bored tone, "you're the scholar of your department but you don't know why there's a joint preliminary between CSA and the University of Ibadan and why the public and media are much more interested in this than other school's preliminaries."

"Should I know?" The other boy asked in a flippant manner, "or wait!" He screamed and his eyes widened as if he just figured out something that only a genius should be able to figure out.

"Or is it because the established fastest runners within the age range for the competition are from the two schools?"

The rest of the boys shook their heads dramatically and they all heaved at the same time.

"Even someone that's not a sprinter should know that, not to talk of a CSA's track team member."

The boy only shrugged casually.

"You'll be surprised that I know next to nothing about our sport's dynamics in the country, I only run for fun."

"Bullshit!" Another guy replied, "all sprinters run for the recognition, for winning, for the trophies."

"Not me," the boy shrugged again, "I only run for fun, for the thrills, for the adrenaline, I'm an adrenaline junkie, Shey you know?"

For the fun, for the thrills, for the adrenaline? Lol. Those were the luxuries I couldn't even afford.

"Ode," a guy slapped his head, "if you're an adrenaline junkie, you shouldn't be running then, you should be doing bungee jumping and flying parachute."

"Ode ni bobo yii jhare."

"Cap," I heard running footsteps at the same time Chike called my name and I turned towards the direction to see the boys close by but while others raced themselves to get to where the other guys were gathered, Chike flopped down on a spot beside me with that boyish smile on his face.

"Did you see me run?" he asked, bouncing on and off the floor in excitement, "I shed off from my seconds again, coach was too pleased with me."

"Of course, he'd be pleased," I ruffled his head without thinking much of it, "nothing pleases him more than sprinters shedding off seconds."

"I know, right? With the way things are going, I'll end up becoming the second Nigerian to win African Championship after you."

Winning the African Championship after me? I burst into laughter before I could stop myself because the too-assured faith Chike had in me was somehow overbearing.

"How're you so sure that I'll be the one to win? Do you have an idea how big of a competition the championship is?"

"Of course I do but I also have faith in you because cap," his eyes widened in surprise, "have you seen yourself run? You don't move wind the wind, you move like the wind."

"Shut up dude," I flipped him off but I couldn't help the tiny smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

"I'm serious Cap," he sounded somehow somber, "I really wish I could be as fast as you are but that'll be like wishing snails should fly."

"Come on, you're already fast and if you keep this energy up, you'll be faster than I am before you get to my age."

"Way to make me feel good, Cap."

"I wasn't lying though."

A whistle went off in a distance and before Coach even screamed our names, we already got the drill.

Adrenaline.

An insane rush of air.

One that made me feel like I was merging with the air, one that made me feel weightless, boneless, one that made me feel like air itself, free and wild-spirited as I crossed the finish line.

My hands automatically went to my knees as I tried to regulate my breathing and I turned back, expecting to see Seyi already at the finish line because that was how much the seconds between us had thinned but he was just... I counted up to 15 before he finally crossed the finish line after me.

Unlike me that was still heaving and trying to catch his breath, Seyi looked like he just took a leisurely stroll. He was almost breathing regularly and apart from the pool of sweat gathering on his forehead, no one would have guessed he just ran that much distance.

"Wow, Son!" Coach's voice cut through my reverie and I frowned, wondering who he was referring to as son between the both of us but he got to me, eyes shining with a level of excitement I wasn't sure I'd seen in his eyes before.

"Son!" he destroyed my eardrums and he slapped my left shoulder so badly I was sure I must have dislocated some bones.

"You just... You did not... You really did..." he trailed off and he had to like calm himself down, to like keep his excitement under bay to get his words while I could only stare at me, the beginning of a frown starting to form on my face because where was the man that has been giving me shit for more than 2 weeks now?

"You shed more seconds off your best record, Son."

Wow! I was pleasantly surprised because I'd been advised to only work on maintaining that record because my health was already telling on my physical abilities and it would never allow me to shed more seconds off but now, coach was saying I had shed more seconds off.

But it was probably just one second, right?

It couldn't be more than.

"5 seconds," Coach dropped the bombshell and I frowned.

"Ehn?"

"You just shed 5 seconds off, son," he patted my shoulders playfully this time around, pride swimming in his eyes and I felt lightheaded, breathless because what? How was that even supposed to be possible?

"I should have known you were going to come back with this kind of impressive record. This is a first, Son, keep it up. With this, you don't even have to worry about the preliminaries at all."

He went on and on and on but his words sounded jumbled up, they sounded far away, like some sort of metallic sound as I tried to process what he just said.

I shed 5 whole seconds off that record?

And it wasn't even a gradual process, it was just... I mean, how was that even supposed to be possible?

5 seconds? How?

I couldn't even process how I was feeling, whether I was feeling happy or relieved or something... I wasn't so sure.

"Well done Seyi," Coach finally left my side and he patted Seyi briefly on his shoulder. I looked at Seyi to gauge his reaction to the news of my somehow bizarre shedding seconds off but the fucker only looked impassive as if that didn't bother him in the slightest bit, "you maintained your new record and that's more than impressive.-

GATHER AROUND GUYS!"

All the other teammates joined us in no minutes and Coach went on to address us about the preliminaries, the international scouts, and media coverages that'd be coming on the day.

"David is already an exception because he just beat his already impeccable record today but as for the rest of you, you have to bring your A-game to the preliminaries, you can never know the kind of scouts that'll be glad to sign you to their clubs, am I understood?"

"Yes Coach."

"Are you guys mosquitoes?" He yelled his disapproval.

"YES COACH!"

"Good! You guys are dismissed, see you in there days' time."

The team started to disperse in two and threes and Coach turned to me to pat me on the shoulder before walking while the fact that I shed 5 seconds off without even trying despite the fact that my migraine was worsening by the day would stop popping up in my mind.

A couple of minutes later, I was standing in front of my locker and changing into my clothes after showering. While in the shower, I've had enough or even more than enough time to process what just put there on the field.

I've shed 5 whole seconds off without doing anything tangible or substantial to get that kind of drastic result overnight and instead of feeling giddy and over the top, I felt strangely calm.

More like oddly at peace with myself.

My eyes caught a glimpse of the door of my locker as I shrugged my top on and I felt my lips stretch into a smile. I asked Dunni to only attach one picture but like always, she had gone ahead to cover the whole door with her pictures with just a joint picture of ours in a miserable corner.

My smile deepened into a chuckle and I shook my head slightly with the thoughts of how dramatic and childish my girlfriend could be.

And well, cute too.

Yeah, cute, gone man.

"Hey Zaddy," that female voice had my head whirling around with so much force and speed that I strained a muscle but I couldn't even feel the pain because of the sight before me.

Dunni was leaning against the door frame, hips slightly jutted out to her right side and her right hand on her hips.

Happiness blossomed in me, coursing through my whole body and making my smile widen like a 15-year-old that was completely enamored with a girl. I've not seen her physically for the whole of two days and that was my physical reaction to seeing her again.

Talk about being completely whipped.

"I was expecting a more dramatic reaction from you," she started to say as she pushed herself off the door-frame and she started sashaying her way towards me, "but you're not saying anything, you're just looking and smiling at me."

I wasn't even listening to what she was saying or better constructed, I wasn't capable of listening to what she was saying, my eyes were latched to the movements of her body, of her hips as she made her way towards me and the clothes she had on... Except that it couldn't be described as clothing.

It was temptation disguised as a piece of clothing.

How she showed up 🔥🔥

And the combination of that temptation and the girl that was dressed in it? Hot damn!

David, you lucky bastard.

My subconscious teased and I couldn't help the slight chuckle that escaped from my lips.

I was in absolute trouble.

"You're still not saying anything," she pointed out when she got to me, and instead of staying by my side like I was sure any other girl that wasn't Dunni would have, she winked at me before slamming my locker shut and she squeezed herself in the tiny space between the locker and my body.

My eyes narrowed at her movement and the result. We were now almost pressed together with the tiniest bit of space between us and I would be a great liar if I say I wasn't such a terrible sucker for this position.

"You... I thought you had practice till nightfall."

"I ran away," she replied without missing a beat and I chuckled again.

"Why?" I tucked away a strand of hair on her face, "you missed your boyfriend too much?"

"Something like that and besides, I wanted to come and cheer you up during your training."

I felt my heart flutter at her words. It was always the little things she does like this, the way she always shows up when I least expect it, and how she always makes it so normal and random when it feels monumental for me.

"You didn't..." I cleared the sudden hoarseness away from my voice, "I felt your cheer even though you weren't there, I ran faster than I've ever had today, and I... I shed off..."

"...five whole seconds from your best record," she completed for me with a proud smile on her lips and she shook her head dramatically, like a child while I could only frown because how did she get to know that?

"How did you know that?"

"Your coach's voice was so loud, it sounded so much like he swallowed a microphone."

It still didn't make any sense, "so you heard it all the way from your department?"

The comical roll of her eyes made me chuckle again, "of course not, I was sitting on the bleachers. I watched you run."

Ohhh. I tilted my head away from her so she wouldn't see my smile, "no wonder I ran faster than ever today."

"Of course,"'her hands found their way to either side of my chest and she tentatively trailed the tip of her fingers over my chest before intertwining them around my neck and pulling me even closer to her.

Jesus! What's this girl up to now?

I banished all sorts of evil thoughts to the farthest of my mind and I tried so hard to ignore we were now pressed so tightly together and her body was rubbing against mine in all the wrongest places.

Dear Lord.

"So, if you've been here all along," I forced my voice to remain normal, to not show everything that was going wrong with my body, "why did it take you so long to come to me?"

"Mhmm," she murmured, the sound sounding more dangerous than it'd have on a normal day when we weren't so pressed tightly together like this but right now, with her hips slightly digging into mine and her breasts rubbing against my chest with each of her shallow breaths, nah, that murmur sounded all shades of wrong.

"I know you always leave last so I wanted all your teammates to leave before coming," the tip of her tongue darted out to lick her lower lip for the briefest moment but it was enough for my thoughts to start going even more haywire.

Deep shit, is that you?

"I felt we might need the privacy," she completed and before my head could even wrap around the implication of her words, she arched her back slightly so her hips dug more into mine, and the friction that caused... Jesus Christ.

Deep deep shit.

The otherwise tranquil air changed suddenly, crackling with electricity as our eyes remained locked on each other. Dunni's face was the picture of innocence but I knew what lies beneath that innocent look and child-like smile.

And if this wasn't another mindless tease game of hers, God...

"So," my voice came out like a drawl, dark and smoky and my right hand moved on its own volition to rest on her exposed waist and to lightly trail a line over her bare skin, causing a short, barely audible gasp to escape from her lips.

"You sent that picture," my finger started skimming upwards over her top which was barely doing anything to curb my insanity, and not only could I hear her breathing turning erratic and shallow, I could feel them beneath my hand, matching the uneven rhythm of my own breaths.

"And you showed up dressed in something that can send the thoughts of the holiest man spiraling," I trailed my finger languorously over the elm of her top, my finger grazing the bare under-swell of her breasts in the process, eliciting another gasp-like moan from her and Jesus Christ...

I was this close to losing my goddamned mind when we've barely even done anything.

"You called me that name to put all sorts of ideas in my head," my hand wrapped around her neck lightly, turning her head up, "and you've cornered me into this kind of proximity with you, so tell me," my voice turned smokier and I lowered my head so our faces were just like an inch or so apart, "what exactly are you aiming for?"

Dunni's reply was to arch her back even more, even though it was slightly but it was more than enough to have her completely pressed against my torso and for her to completely feel the impact of what this proximity and her dress and her was doing to that particular part of my body.

She flushed, red staining her already crimson cheeks at the contact and her lips parting in a small surprised gasp at the same time a guttural groan tore out of my mouth.

Her lips stretched into a wicked grin as she used her hold around my neck to tug me further down, her body flushing more against mine in the process.

Fuck.

"Maybe," her lips brushed over mine slightly, "maybe I was aiming for this."

I tilted my head and deep...

"Cap, why are..."

Fuck shit!

What could I have possibly done wrong to deserve these kinds of people?

We didn't pull away from each other dramatically. I only pulled away from her ever so slowly and we remained slightly flushed together as we both turned toward the intruder.

Chike Nnaji.

The boy was looking everywhere but us, his eyes roaming dramatically over the interior of the locker as if he was just seeing it for the first time.

"I was waiting outside for you," he started, "and you were taking so much time to come out so I thought... I wanted to come and..." he stuttered pathetically without still looking at us, "I didn't know you were busy and I..." he bowed in 360 degrees and out of nowhere, "I'M SORRY SIR!"

He ran off and Dunni burst into laughter.

God! What? I heaved a terribly loud sigh, I must have done something completely wrong in my past life to deserve people like Chike and Wale.

"I had no idea you now have someone you're this close with on the team," Dunni pointed out as I slowly moved away from her and I turned my back to her.

"Well, looks like I got myself a school son," I managed to get out through gritted teeth and through fucking ragged breaths.

"A school son? How beautiful! I hope we won't be in any way contending for your heart in the near future?"

And she just had to! I threw her a glance over my shoulder, laughter bubbling from deep within and bursting out through my mouth and relieving me of some of the tensions from earlier.

My laughter soon trailed off and the tension returned in full force. With Dunni leaning against my locker, dressed like that, and staring at me like that, I don't know how I was supposed to act.

How I was supposed to control the need and want that was so monumental that make every other thing cease to exist?

"Do you want to go over to Zik Hostel?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible about it even though anticipation was climbing up my spine, igniting a low heat in my lower abdomen at the unmasked and blatant desire in her eyes.

"Wale isn't around."

I opened my eyes a couple of minutes or hours after, my mind blank and grogginess filling my brain. You know when you just woke up after a deep slumber and you have no recollection of anything so I just laid there, trying to clear the sleep off my eyes.

Dunni. Picture. Wale. Training. Locker. Dunni. Locker. Dunni.

A groan escaped from my lips at the recollection of everything. We had returned to Zik Hostel and I should have known better that because of the weird person and queen of unpredictability that I was dating, picking up and continuing what we had been doing was a no-no.

Dunni didn't disappoint.

"Oh my God!" she started immediately I closed the door after us and she immediately made herself comfortable on my made after she took off her shoes.

"I'm so sleepy," she continued, wiping all sorts of thoughts from my head, "wake me up before it's too late, hmm?"

And before I could even bring myself to come to terms with the irrationality of her statement, she was covering her body with the duvet and turning her head to the other side.

What the...

She did all that on purpose, made sure to completely tether me towards the edge of insanity, and now that we're here, she was going to sleep?

Nah, she was already fast asleep judging from her shallow breaths and how still she was on the bed. She would never be that still if she was still awake.

I pushed myself off the wall and tucked her legs in properly under the duvet, still feeling the after-effects of everything that had happened in the locker, knowing fully well that I was going to have to take another cold shower even though I just took one less than an hour ago.

And taking that long shower was the last thing I remembered before I was now waking up on... I looked around the bed to confirm the fear that was at the farthest part of my mind.

Wale's bed.

I didn't remember waking Dunni up or her taking her leave or... My eyes flew to the other side of the room, to where my bed was to confirm that yeah, Dunni was still very much asleep on my bed.

My hand fumbled for my phone on the bed and the time that stared back made me sit up in complete alarm and panic.

What the...

From the other side of the room, Dunni turned and made a drowsy sound.

"Dunni."

"Hmm Hmm?" she answered incomprehensively before her unfocused and still sleepy eyes flew open but I was already on my feet and shrugging on my shirt because I always sleep shirtless.

"Where are we?" she asked groggily, unaware of the anxiety and panic that were already clawing at my chest as I towered over her and I pulled her to a sitting position.

"We're in my hostel and you... We overslept," I explained to her, "it's past 10 already."

I wasn't even sure how that happened, we had gotten here a couple of minutes to 7 pm and now, it was 10 pm and...

"Ohh," she shrugged my hand off and wrapped the duvet more around her body, "let's go back to sleep then, why did you wake me up? I was starting to dream about old age and my grandchildren and..."

"Jesus Christ Dunni, wake up! it's 10 pm, do you know how much of a crime is it for a girl to be found in Zik Hostel this late?"

While CSA has always been casual about girls frequently boys' hostel and vice versa, the school has also been very, extremely strict even about the opposite gender not spending a minute more after the time limit which was 8 pm. I couldn't even count the number of students, both female and male that had gotten suspended, had an extra year, or even risked expulsion because they were found in the other gender's hostel.

And now, a whole two hours after that time limit, Dunni was talking about old age and grandchildren.

God abeg.

"Oppps," sleep finally cleared from her eyes and she sat up straighter, "why didn't you wake me up?"

As if.

"I slept off, just... Just stand up and we'll like... Just..." I licked my lips nervously, "the porter on duty is my paddy, he should understand."

"So I'm going to have to leave now?" she asked as if that wasn't obvious enough and I had to bite my lips to stop myself from groaning out loud, "but what is that low whistle sound that I'm hearing? Isn't that what? Some sort of signal from Zik Boys?"

Some sort of signal from... Oluwa oo!! I strained my ears and I caught the faintest sound that instantly drenched my whole body in fear and perspiration.

I turned on my data with a speed that alarmed even me and I confirmed my worst fear when I saw the number of unread messages in Zik WhatsApp group and the fact that more than five different numbers were typing at the same time.

Deep shit, is that you?

"The sub-dean of the student affairs is the hostel," I explained to Dunni who was looking so nonchalant and chill about everything.

"Then that means I have to hide in here," she explained with childish innocence, "what if I go out there and I run into him?"

"What if you stay in here and he comes here to meet you?"

I saw everything flash right in front of my eyes, track, preliminary, African championship, four years, my degree... Was this how I was going to kiss everything goodbye because of kongi?

Deep shit, is that you?

"And why would he come in here?" She probed further, her tone and eyes all innocent.

"Because the sub-dean only comes here at this time of the night for only one thing, to do random room searches."

The sub-dean, Alex Sawyer was a devil disguised as human. No student ever pray to have a case with him because winning that case and coming out unscathed was close to impossible and that man had always been like a predator baiting his prey. He always shows up at the unlikeliest hour to search through hostels and catch unsuspecting students.

I remember once when we were in 200l. He showed up around 2 am, did a complete and thorough search with his entourages, and more than 10 guys were caught with girls in their rooms, some right in the middle of the act, and the students that got the least penalty got an extra year.

His wickedness was what made Zik Boys come up with the idea of blowing whistles whenever he showed up unannounced so that at least, others will get reminded to check the group for any information and get rid of whatever indiscriminating thing they could have in the room.

Except that Dunni was the indiscriminating thing here and there was nowhere to hide her.

There was no way to hide her.

Oh God!

"Calm down babe," she actually assured me in this nerve wrecking situation, "I'm sure it's nothing."

I stared at her in part shock, part amusement, that popular lyrics that were trending these days replaying themselves in my head.

Shey you dey whine me ni in in?

"Listen," she tugged at my hands and, "there seems to be a commotion outside, I don't think Uncle Alex really came here to search anything."

Uncle Alex?

Of course, that was why she was so relaxed about everything. He was her paternal uncle and well, y'all know how all those things work.

But that still wasn't enough to alleviate my worries. I opened the window to confirm that there was really a commotion going on outside but it still wasn't enough and the messages on the group chat confirming that the sun-dean came over because of a fight between two roommates still weren't enough.

The jester.

JUST IN🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
So apparently, two homies apparent, close bros and roommates since their 200l days nearly killed each other today because of well, cunt or pussy in this regard.

I cringed at the lewd language but I was already used to it. The things Zik Boys say without flinching would always have a normal guy balking.

The Jester.

So report reaching us is that one of the guys in block B has been dating this girl for 2 years now and he has spent a lot of money on her, random trips to Dubai, money cake in this chronic period of sapa, random credit alerts and every other day to fund her baby girl's lifestyle but this girl has never allowed him to go down on her and vice versa, as per no oral sex only for the boyfriend to return to the hostel this evening to meet the girlfriend with his roommate's dick in her mouth😂😂 isn't God wonderful?

I bit back a chuckle. Bastard.

07035*******

Eyah, so she has never allowed to our guy to have a taste and she has been serving the roommate all these while, what a life!

091236******

Things no dey pain past this one, how can she do that to a man? At least, if she wants to cheat, she should have allowed our guy to go down on her too now. Now, man has never probably eaten a girl out and probably fucked a girl's mouth before. What a loss.

08044****

If na me be the guy, na their dead bodies the sub-dean go come neat.

09065*******

Fear women! Trust Women at your own peril.

07011****

But Kama paro, kama jale, this kind thing dey pass.

Another chuckle escaped from my lips at the same time it dawned on me that I wasn't the only one in the room and Dunni was... she was sitting so close and I'd been reading...

"What's it?" She leaned over my shoulders, her breaths fawning my cheeks as she tried to read from my phone's screen, "are they saying anything?"

I pressed the power bottom and I stood to my feet, putting the much-needed space between us.

"Noo... I mean yes," I moistened my suddenly parched lips and I massaged my neck nervously, "he came because of a fight so he won't... he shouldn't be searching the room tonight."

"See," she brightened up like a bulb that just came on, "I told you we don't have anything to worry about."

Funny how I now have everything to worry about.

I glanced at Wale's bedside clock to confirm that it was now a couple of minutes past 11 which meant it was already past the time for Zik Hostel light out which was literally the time when the main gates will be locked and movement in and out of the hostel will be stopped till 5 am.

So there was no getting the smiling girl on the bed out of there whenever the Sub-Dean finally leaves.

Which meant we were going to spend the night together, as in sleep in this same room overnight.

Nah, I definitely have more to worry about now.

"Dunni, I... we might not be able to get you out of the hostel when the sub-dean finally leaves," I tried to explain to her, to prepare her because we've never actually slept in the same room before, "so you might have to like..." my voice darkened slightly, "spend the night here."

"Good times!" My girlfriend screamed and she hurriedly got out of my bed with the biggest smile on her face while I could only follow her movements warily, "we're probably the only couple who have dated for that long and never slept overnight in a room before so this is exciting for me."

Send help...

"Now, I'm going to have a shower..."

A shower while I was in the room? God abeg.

She danced her way towards where my wardrobe was and even though it was just for a couple of seconds, my eyes latched on the sway of her ass and the...

"Dave, I'm looking for what to change into," she announced as she began to rummage through my wardrobe, and soon she held out my joggers in one hand and shorts in another.

"What should I wear? Joggers or shorts?"

"Joggers," for me to be able to hold on to a small part of my sanity.

"Shorts," she threw the shorts on my bed and she folded the joggers back in the wardrobe, "I don't really like covering my legs too much when I'm indoors."

Nah, I was really in deep shit.

She turned back and she continued her search for what I was sure was a suitable top to wear and I couldn't stop looking at her and thinking... God! Of how fucking messed up this was.

I've missed her, terribly at that and I wasn't even talking about the past year when we weren't together, I was talking about the last two weeks, the keep your hands to yourself rule, the endless teasings and that picture! God! I've not been able to stop thinking about that picture for a second since she sent it.

And now, we were going to have to sleep in the same room till daybreak.

I don't trust myself to be able to keep my hands off her.

And I don't trust myself to touch her and not go way further than we've ever gone.

"Dunni," I called out, my voice husky from too much thinking and she turned back with a navy blue round-neck tee in hand.

"I don't think... I'm not sure if this is a good idea, we can't..."

"Don't worry," she interrupted me, completely oblivious to the kind of pain I was going through at the moment, "I'm not going to do anything you don't want to you."

God! I pressed my lips so tightly together so I'd be able to suppress my laughter but my shoulders were already quaking so bad I felt tears pool in my eyes.

Where did we get this girl from again?

"You see? Don't worry, I'm going to be a complete gentle lady tonight."

My laughter deepened. As if.

"There's a new towel in the last drawer," I told her and she flashed me an appreciative grin that seemed to have a wicked glint in it before matching to the bedroom with everything she just braided from my wardrobe.

My heart picked up when the door slammed shut.

God! This was going to be one terribly long night.

"David," I heard Dunni's voice from the bathroom but I was sure there was no way she'd be calling me from inside there.

I was definitely hallucinating because I'd been thinking way too much.

"David," I heard the voice followed by two rapid knocks on the door, and the hairs on my back stood up.

She was calling me from inside the bathroom?

I closed the distance between where I had been standing since she entered the bathroom and the door and I leaned on it as if I'd hear anything from within.

I heard nothing, just low humming.

"Babe?"

"Yeah, come in."

Ehn?

Come in where?

I must have heard wrong, nah, I definitely heard wrong so I gently tapped on the door.

"Come in," she repeated casually, not knowing the kind of reactions I was having to those two words. It's been a couple of minutes since she entered the bathroom but she was probably still dressed. She wouldn't be asking me to come in for whatever reason if she was...

Jesus Christ! Get a grip on yourself.

Yeah, I should... I should get a grip on myself.

I pushed the door open slightly, my eyes fluttering partially close.

"Are you going to keep standing by the door or you'll come in?

"Yeah, sure," I stepped in and close the door behind me, "I was just making sure that..."

My eyes fluttered open and everything I was going to say faded into the back of my mind. I was... I don't know what... I just...

My mouth dried up completely and I had to swallow a lump when I saw her. She was standing in front of the walled mirror, dress discarded and the towel... God help me. I didn't know how I forgot that the towel was too short to be wrapped around a female's body.

It was... it barely even covered her body. It stopped on her upper thighs, leaving the whole of her legs and lower thighs completely bare to my eyes, and Jesus, that towel looked like if she should slightly bend or anything...

I moistened my suddenly parched lips and forced my eyes off her thighs to her chest which turned out to be a grave, gravest mistake. It was no better, in fact, it was way worse. The towel was barely covering her chest, exposing more than enough cleavage and she had knotted it with so much reckless abandon that that damned thing looked like it was going to fall off if it should even get brushed by a feather.

I was really in deep shit, the deepest shit, and this sleepover like I thought was really turning out to be the perfect recipe for disaster.

I looked away from her delectable body to her eyes through the mirror and I gulped when my eyes met hers, feeling the intensity surge higher and higher till it reached the maximum. She was looking at me like...

Don't go there!

"Uhnmmm," she started, my eyes following her throat at each pronounced swallow, "my earring got tangled with my hair, can you help me with it?"

Ohh, so I was supposed to move closer to closer to her and stand beside her and touch her, and... with that flimsy towel she had on, how she was looking at me and the fucking boner I was starting to spot?

My mouth dried even more, everything going wrong with everything single part of my body. Our eyes remained locked through the mirror and the whole bathroom, the space that felt so minute between us felt like it was shrouded in gasoline, and taking a step closer to her would be dropping a lit match stick and...

I'm not going to think about that.

I swallowed, my heart beating so fast and wild as I finally pushed myself off the door frame and I started walking towards her.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

I stepped into place behind her, my eyes not leaving hers for once as I raised my hands to work on entangling her earring from her hair. I should be looking at where my hands were but heaven knows I couldn't, not when I could hear and feel each of her shallow breaths, I could see how flushed her cheeks were getting by the minute, how erratic and labored her breathes were getting, and how she wouldn't stop looking at me like that.

I moistened my dry lower lip again.

"How did you manage to get it so tangled up?" I managed through ragged breaths, "it doesn't look like it's going to come undone unless you want me to cut a tiny part of your hair."

"No oo," she screamed and squirmed innocently against me, rubbing on me in the wrongest place and I bit back a groan, "you can't cut my hair."

"It's going to be very tiny, Dunni, you won't even notice it."

"No, I don't want," she maintained defiantly, like a child, eliciting a chuckle from me in this tense situation.

"You have this full hair and you don't want me to cut a tiny winy part from it?"

"No, I don't," she tilted her head to one side, giving me more access to the ear and earring and subsequently to that side of her neck.

I gulped, my eyes breaking from hers in the mirror to look at the spot, at the gracious slope of her neck, at the delicacy and I lost.

I lost the fight and the willpower to hold back.

My eyes flickered upwards to meet her eyes through the mirror again before tilting my head down and pressing my lips on that spot between her back and neck.

A short gasp escaped from her lips, her back arching against my front as her eyes widened slightly in shock. A wicked glint lit my eyes as I moved even closer to her, planting feathery closed-mouthed kisses from her back to her shoulder blade and finally, her neck.

She sighed, her body shuddering when my lips connected with the spot where her shoulder met her neck and I planted a soft open-mouthed kiss on that spot, eliciting another gasp-like sigh from her mouth.

She tilted her head even more, allowing me better access to her neckline and I groaned as I trailed my mouth upwards, blowing air that made her skin tingle underneath my mouth and my tongue darting out to trace the sensitive lines on her neck, eliciting sighs that were threatening to drive me over the edge of insanity.

My mouth fastened on a spot on her neck and I nibbled on it ever so slowly, my mouth opening slightly to suck on that spot. She made a sound from the back of her throat, halfway like a whimper and a moan and I fucking felt like I was going to die.

I flickered my eyes up to see her eyes fluttering through the mirror and I kept my eyes trained on hers as I continued sucking and nibbling on the particular spot eliciting moan after moan from her mouth that was like balms to my soul.

I blew air on that particular spot on her neck while our eyes remained locked through the mirror before taking the sensitive skin between my teeth and biting down on it softly. A short scream-like moan escaped from her mouth, her eyes fluttering completely close from intense pleasure.

I straightened slightly, my fingers trailing a line from one shoulder blade to another, her skin shuddering beneath my touch while her eyes still remained closed.

I pressed a soft opened mouth kiss on the sensitive skin below her earlobe and she visibly shivered.

"Dunni," my voice was low, dark, husky, and needy with want, "keep your eyes open for me, love."

Her eyes fluttered open at my command and I kept my eyes trained on hers as I bent again to bite down on a spot below her earlobe and a mewl of pleasure that went straight to my groin escaped from her lips.

God! I'm definitely going to lose my mind.

I continued biting and sucking on that particular spot, wringing moans after moans and whimpers after whimpers from her all the while watching her through the mirror, watching her eyes get clouded with pleasure over and again, watching her keep her eyes opened even when I was sure she wanted to succumb to the mind-numbing pleasure and close her eyes to fully bask in it.

That's my girl.

A sound was going on at the back of my mind but I couldn't register it, not when every other thing but the feel and taste of Dunni were incinerated in my mind.

"David," Dunni whimpered and squirmed in my hands and I finally let go of her.

"Your phone has been ringing since forever," she explained, still looking at me that way, and well, phone and every other thing be damned.

I started to reach for her again, "that can wait." but she buckled, moving her body slightly away from my hold.

"It's already midnight, Dave, if someone is calling you incessantly by this time, it's definitely urgent."

Ohhh. Logic and sense were always flying out whenever she was involved.

My phone was blaring again when I made my way back to the room and I should have known who it was going to be.

Of course, it'd be the guy that I choose to be my best friend. They've after all sent him after my life.

"Guy, were you the one they beat up in the hostel? Abi why did it take you so long to answer the phone?"

Was what he welcomed me with and I had to resist the urge to yell out the profanities at the tip of my tongue.

"What. Do. You. Want?"

"Looks like you're fine," he ignored my tone, "you couldn't even call to ask me if I got home successfully."

God! My hand tightened on my phone, "am I dating you?"

"Yen yen yen, what were you doing though? And why do you sound so breathless?"

"I was...." I thought of a lie, "I was working out."

"Eeeeehhhhhhh!" He shattered my eardrums, "you were working out ni 1 am, David!"

"Goodnight."

He chuckled lightly, a slightly taunting one, "goodnight David, my regards to Dunni."

"She's not..." but the fucker had already cut the call.

God! Best friends were such exaggerated know-alls.

It was almost 40 minutes after before I emerged from the bathroom after shower number 4 or 5and I was surprised to see that Dunni was still up.

She was seated on Wale's desk and reading one of his textbooks as if she was genuinely interested in what was in it and she didn't even flick her head upward when she heard me step into the room.

It made me tense for a while, wondering what could possibly be wrong. I had been hoping that she'd have fallen asleep because then, it'd be easier to fall asleep too but now, she was still very much awake and very much looking like a lethal temptation.

"I thought you'd be asleep by now," I tried to sound as casual as possible as I crossed the distance between us to lean against the desk so I could watch her face.

"I couldn't sleep," she still wouldn't meet my eyes and now, I was starting to get more worried.

"Really? Do you want me to sing you a lullaby then?"

"Will you?" She looked up slightly and I caught the trace of a smile, a shy smile on her lips before she looked away again.

"Of course, anything for you."

"Liar, the last time you said you were going to sing a lullaby for me, you slept off before you could even think of a song."

"And you plucked out the whole of my eyelashes in retaliation."

"Who asked you to have that long lashes when your girlfriend's is so short?" She sassed and I couldn't help the low chuckle that escaped from my lips. She wore a tiny humored smile on her lips too but she still wouldn't look up at me.

"Chill, babe, have you eaten anything since... what was that thing that you had for breakfast again, herbal smoothie abi what did you call it?"

"Yeah, herbal smoothie, and no, I've not had anything else."

"Since morning?"

She nodded petulantly like a child and I had to exclaim because how do girls stay the whole day without eating and they still function properly?

Granted, Dunni had days when she eats like she had been starving for days, and then, on days like this, she drink something called Smoothie for the whole day. There was no way in hell that'd be possible for me.

"So you don't want to eat anything now?"

She flickered her head slowly towards me, a look I didn't watch to decipher crossing her eyes.

"No, not really."

"So you're not hungry?"

A beat of silence or two passed while she continued to look at me, my subconscious finally deciphering how she was looking at me and what that look could possibly mean.

Damn! She wasn't making this easy for me at all.

"Maybe I'm hungry," her voice lowered and her eyes glazed over my bare arms and bound muscles, "for something entirely different?"

And just like that, the air dimmed and shifted, cackling with an electricity so intense I couldn't inhale properly.

One minute, I was leaning against the desk and staring at her and the next minute, my right hand was wrapped around her neck, tilting her head up for my lips to finally claim hers with hopefully no one to distract us this time around.

She sighed against my lips at the contact and I stilled for a moment, I'd forgotten how this felt like, how addictive the feel on her lips felt like before I parted my lips to kiss her properly.

Her sigh morphed into a low moan when I pulled on her lower lip, giving me better access to suck and nibble on it, to alternate between her two lips and she kissed me back with equal intensity, her back arching off the chair as she sensually trailed her fingers over my bare arm eliciting a husky groan from my mouth, one that was swallowed by those low moans of hers, sending a wave of arousal to my groan before fisting my shirt and pulling me closer to her as if she couldn't get enough of me like I couldn't get enough of her.

My hold tightened on her neck to tilt her head up for better access as the need to taste her better, to feel her better consumed me as I deepened the kiss, my tongue darting out to trace the seam of her lips, to part her lips and she opened up eagerly for me, for my tongue to slip into her mouth without any barrier and she made that sound from her throat.

That low hum of pleasure that always made me feel like I was going to die.

My hands moved on their own volition to gently lift her off the chair and she instantly wrapped her hands around my neck to hold me in place before I gently placed her on Wale's desk, some of his stuff falling to the floor in the process but I couldn't think of them, not at that moment when I was in between Dunni's bare thighs and the whole air was cackling with so much air and electricity that I felt I might combust into flames any time soon.

We didn't stop kissing, tongues plundering deep and twirling around each other as we kissed into the deepest part of ecstasy, of arousal and my hand dropped to her thigh, to slowly trail a line on her inner thigh till I reached that spot.

She buckled beneath my finger at the same time she let out a loud whimper that made me pull away from her. Her eyes flew open and she was looking at me, eyes clouded with love, lust, arousal and she looked all shades of beautiful with her swollen pink lips, flushed cheeks, and... my eyes dropped lower to see her nipples straining hard through the fabric of the tee-shirt and God! I was really going to die.

Dunni Gentry was really going to be the death of me.

I forced my eyes back to her face to see that she now had a small, teasing smile on her lips but still wasn't enough to drown the fact that she still looked like she wanted to lunge herself off the desk and wrap her legs around my waist.

I kissed her softly on the forehead before capturing her lips again and this kiss was in no way like the first. This was driven by a mind-blowing urgency and hunger, one that made us kiss as if we were both drowning and we were all the air the other person needed, one that made our tongues twirl and dance around each other in a frantic fight of dominance, one that made my hand slip into her top, to roam my hand freely on her bare skin, to sensually trail a line on her spine, causing her to shiver and buckle off the desk.

I chuckled against her lips, wrapping her legs around my waist before lifting her off the desk and crossing over to my bed. I backed her slowly to my bed without breaking off the kiss, without her relinquishing her hold around my neck, pulling me even impossibly closer to her body so I could feel all her ragged breathe, swallow all shallow moans and whimpers, feel her nipples straining more and more against my chest till I couldn't take it anymore.

Her hands finally disappeared from my neck and stole into my shirt, eliciting a guttural groan from me as she explored all the flats and curves of my upper body, her hand flattening and trailing over my body at intervals and it was her turn to chuckle at my body's reaction to her touches.

Good! Two can play the game.

I pulled away from her for the slightest second, just enough to pull my shirt off my head, and her eyes widened for a second at the sight of my bare chest before she pulled me in again with both her hands and legs which were now wrapped around my waist.

"Can't get enough of me, uhm?"

"Shut up," she rasped and in retaliation, she dug her long nails into my back and she raked across the length of my back and I groaned in part pain and pleasure when she soothed the tip of her fingers over the lines.

I kissed my way from her lips to her jaw to her neckline educing more whimpers, more shudders, and more risky mewls of pleasure as I kissed my way to the curve of her breasts, my hand fondling one through her shirt and I felt and heard her sharp exhale and her knees spasm together for the briefest moment but enough for me to notice it, enough for me to understand what that meant.

I flickered my head upwards to meet her eyes, to see her staring at me like that, her lower lip in between her, her breathing coming out in labored pants and I moved slightly just enough for my hips to dig into hers, to show her that this was affecting me as well and was probably even more affected.

She gasped, her body squirming beneath mine at the contact, unknowingly applying more pressure to what was already so fucking unbearable, wringing out another groan from my mouth.

Again, Dunni was honestly going to be the death of me.

I kept my eyes trained on hers as I ducked down to take that that had been straining through her tee into my mouth, my lips closing tightly around it.

"Fuckkk!" She screamed, her hand fisting the sheets and her back arching off the bed completely at the impact.

"David... God!"

She rasped out my name as my free hand flickered to the other breast, my fingers flickering over the bud, drawing circles around it and tugging at intervals, wringing out moans after whimpers and gasps from her mouth, her body squirming and buckling more underneath mine and each sound, each squirm was enough to make me lose complete control, to make me want to reach down and yank the shirt over her head but that'd mean crossing a line we both weren't ready to cross.

"David," she moaned my name, driving me crazy in the process with her body going taut beneath mine, her back arching off the bed to give me more access before I finally let go and I kissed my way back to her lips and her forehead.

She sighed in contentment at that, her eyes fluttering open to look at me with so much love it made my skin glow.

God! How much I love this girl!

Her lips stretched into what looked like a shy smile and she averted her eyes from me slightly as if she was suddenly too shy to look at me after the moment we just shared.

I propped my body up over hers on one hand so my weight wasn't entirely resting on her body again.

"Are you suddenly too shy to look at me?"

"I'm not," she replied without still looking at me, "I'm just thinking of your punishment."

Uhmm?

"Punishment?" I allowed my other hand to drop on her neck and started massaging it with my fingers, "did I do anything wrong?"

She finally looked at me, a sugary smile on her lips, "of course you did, I allowed us to get back together only on one condition and that's that you'll keep your hands to yourself for two months and now, less than two weeks after, you've broken the condition in every way possible."

"Oh, really?" I matched her sugary smile and I wrapped my hand around her neck ever so slightly, "all your screams and whimpers didn't sound like you were serious about that condition. Pretty sure must have woken all the boys up..."

"That's it," she started pulling away from me, "I'm leaving, I don't care if it's 2 am or..."

I shut her up by claiming her lips one more time and she struggled half-heartedly against mine for less than a nanosecond before she opened up, allowing me to show her just how much I love her through my kisses.

Actually struggled with the perfect way to end this chapter.

Omoh! Omoh! Eeehhh. I no go talk sha 😂👩‍🦯👩‍🦯

But omoh, Dunni's daddy is out there, working his ass off to raise his girls and Aunty Dunni is busy squirming under man and screaming his name. Eeeehh!

If that's what you're doing in school, just know that God is watching you.

And if you're interested in Ashawoism 101 by Dunni Gentry, please holla at me, and I'll add you to the group.

And Uncle David, I doff my heart for you Sir.

You guys should not blame me when you see people waving knives (figuratively) from the next chapter because we already got more than enough relaxation in their chapter.

See you guys when I see you ❤️✨